I think Ben needs a side kick. Like the Han to his Luke or even a Droid for him to bounce ideas off.

Yes, that would be a literary foil. Jacen and Anakin had each other.

Yeah Ben needs a foil, that's probably why people like Ves so much, she was a good foil to him (until Denning ruined her character for no reason or gain) At this point I will take a figment of his mind seriously he has almost no peers.

While you could read creepy undertones into it, they didn't HAVE to hook up. I know right two members of the opposite sex who are JUST FRIENDS, crazy I tell you

I felt really bad for Ves (and all the Lost Tribe) because no one tried to help them and (in the case of Ves) condemned her for surviving and actions that really weren't her fault. These people were born into darkness, surely some would see the jedi and think "maybe I could join them" I mean Jedi think that, so why not Sith? Ben could have lead a mission to help bring Sith into the Light. Oh wait no lets just assassinate them

By the WAAAGH I don't like Dennings vision of Star Wars, he should be looking to EXPAND THE UNIVERSE, not compress it in to the Jedi temple. I feel Ben has been a victim of this more then most, due to the fact that he is so new to the story.

The thing is he shouldn't be a bland character. He has been given more than enough life experiences to shape him in different ways. I mean he was a government assassin at the age of 14 - not too many people can lay claim to that.

But he has been taken post LOTF and really, really dumbed down into the I'm gonna be a Jedi like my daddy. It is really boring in a lot of ways.

Bottom line is that Ben won't see any character growth until he gets his own books or series away from dad. A series of him leaving the Jedi Order to find and save Vestara, something like that could be great. Something that has a focus on the things that make him different like his investigation skills, as opposed to just being Skywalker #4 with a light stick.

Heck, let him break from the traditions of the order - due to his time in the military - and have him found the Imperial Knights. Something fresh, something different.

I like to think that real!Luke and real!Jacen are actually solving all the issues going on in the background while the protagonists of these stories blunder about thinking that they're doing it. It's like Inspector Gadget.

By the WAAAGH I don't like Dennings vision of Star Wars, he should be looking to EXPAND THE UNIVERSE, not compress it in to the Jedi temple. I feel Ben has been a victim of this more then most, due to the fact that he is so new to the story.